Massachusetts College Prepares Students for Life in Casino Management

Students in the US state of Massachusetts are being prepared for life in casino management thanks to a new scheme. Bristol Community College in Taunton has become the first institution to offer hands-on training in the gambling industry in an effort to encourage youngsters to take up a career managing a fully operational casino.

How the Casino Management Course Works

The initiative, which has been described as the ‘first of its kind’, has been launched to coincide with the opening of three brand new casinos in the Bay State over the next two years. Described as a ‘Casino Lab’, the course features a range of casino equipment, including tables for blackjack, craps and poker and a roulette wheel. Students will also be given the opportunity to handle custom-made chips and work in dimly lit conditions designed to replicate the experience of a real-life casino. The scheme has been championed by Bristol Community College president Laura Douglas, who was quoted as saying: “It’s not your typical college classroom.”

What They Learn

Supported by the CATCH Institution, Bristol Community College intends to teach willing participants about issues such as loss prevention, social issues, business and information management and accounting and marketing for casino operations. John Caressimo, director of the CATCH institute, was on hand to cut the ribbon ahead of the subject’s launch and spoke positively to reporters about the brand new learning opportunity: “What it means for the community is that the community has a facility right in its own backyard where they’ll be able to get that training that they need for jobs.”

Casino Job Prospects

Caressimo was also keen to point out the employment prospects this line of studying would present to future graduates: “Once all three casinos open up in the Commonwealth, there’s going to be something like 10,000 or 11,000 jobs that are going to be needed,” he said. It is projected that The MGM Springfield and Project First Light Resort & Casino will open their doors next year, before the Wynn Boston Harbour Resort is completed in 2019.

State Gaming Commissioner Bruce Stebbins, who described the certification of the college as “an exciting milestone”, confirmed that a number of other institutions have shown interest in following in the Taunton establishment’s footsteps. Who knows, should the scheme prove successful, it might not be long before casino management is offered at colleges across the world.

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